Economics

Courses

ECON 500a and ECON 501b, General Economic Theory: Microeconomics  Larry Samuelson, John Geanakoplos, and Eduardo Davila

Introduction to optimization methods and partial equilibrium. Theories of utility and consumer behavior production and firm behavior. Introduction to uncertainty and the economics of information, and to noncompetitive market structures.
MW 9am-10:20am

ECON 510a and ECON 511b, General Economic Theory: Macroeconomics  Michael Peters and Fabrizio Zilibotti

Analysis of short-run determination of aggregate employment, income, prices, and interest rates in closed and open economies. Stabilization policies.
TTh 10:30am-11:50am

ECON 520a, Advanced Microeconomic Theory I  Larry Samuelson and Anna Sanktjohanser

A formal introduction to game theory and information economics. Alternative non-cooperative solution concepts are studied and applied to problems in oligopoly, bargaining, auctions, strategic social choice, and repeated games.
M 4pm-7pm

ECON 521b, Advanced Microeconomic Theory II  Marina Halac and Juuso Valimaki

Contracts and the economics of organization. Topics may include dynamic contracts (both explicit and implicit), career concerns, hierarchies, Bayesian mechanism design, renegotiation, and corporate control.
M 3pm-6pm

ECON 522a and ECON 523b, Microeconomic Theory Lunch  Staff

A forum for advanced students to critically examine recent papers in the literature and present their own work.
T 12pm-1pm

ECON 525a, Advanced Macroeconomics I  Giuseppe Moscarini and Ilse Lindenlaub

Heterogeneous agent economics, investment, scrapping and firing, nonquadratic adjustment costs, financial constraints, financial intermediation, psychology of decision making under risk, optimal risk management, financial markets, consumption behavior, monetary policy, term structure of interest rates.
M 1pm-4pm

ECON 526b, Advanced Macroeconomics II  Michael Peters and Anthony Smith

Macroeconomic equilibrium in the presence of uninsurable labor income risk. Implications for savings, asset prices, unemployment.
MW 9am-10:20am

ECON 530a, General Equilibrium Foundations of Finance and Macroeconomics  John Geanakoplos

The course gives a careful mathematical description of the general equilibrium underpinnings of the main models of finance and the new macroeconomics of collateral and default. Part I is a review of Walrasian general equilibrium, including the mathematical techniques of fixed points and genericity, both taught from an elementary point of view. Part II covers general equilibrium with incomplete markets (GEI). Part III focuses on the special case of the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), including extensions to multi-commodity CAPM and multifactor CAPM. Part IV focuses on the Modigliani-Miller theorem and generic constrained inefficiency. Part V describes collateral equilibrium and the leverage cycle. Part VI covers default and punishment and adverse selection and moral hazard in general equilibrium. Part VII describes monetary equilibrium.
W 4pm-7pm

ECON 531b, Mathematical Economics II  Nicolas Werquin and Eduardo Davila

This course examines the foundations of money and finance from the perspective of general equilibrium with incomplete markets. The relevant mathematical tools from elementary stochastic processes to differential topology are developed in the course. Topics include asset pricing, variations of the capital asset pricing model, the “Hahn paradox” on the value of flat money, default and bankruptcy, collateral equilibrium, market crashes, adverse selection and moral hazard with perfect competition, credit card equilibrium, and general equilibrium with asymmetric information.
T 4pm-6:15pm

ECON 537a, Microeconomic Theory Workshop  Staff

Presentations by research scholars and participating students.
W 2:30pm-3:50pm

ECON 540a and ECON 541b, Student Workshop in Macroeconomics  Staff

A course that gives third- and fourth-year students doing research in macroeconomics an opportunity to prepare their prospectuses and to present their dissertation work. Each student is required to make at least two presentations per term. For third-year students and beyond, at least one of the presentations in the first term should be a mock job talk.
Th 12pm-1pm

ECON 542a, Macroeconomics Workshop  Staff

A forum for presentation and discussion of state-of-the-art research in macroeconomics. Presentations by research scholars and participating students of papers in closed economy and open economy macroeconomics and monetary economics.
T 2:20pm-3:50pm

ECON 545a, Microeconomics  Michael Boozer

A survey of the main features of current economic analysis and of the application of the theory to a number of important economic questions, covering microeconomics and demand theory, the theory of the firm, and market structures. For IDE students.
MW 2:30pm-3:45pm

ECON 546a, Growth and Macroeconomics  Fabrizio Zilibotti

This course presents a basic framework to understand macroeconomic behavior and the effects of macroeconomic policies. Topics include consumption and investment, labor market, short-run income determinations, unemployment, inflation, growth, and the effects of monetary and fiscal policies. The emphasis is on the relation between the underlying assumptions of macroeconomic framework and policy implications derived from it.
MW 9am-10:15am

ECON 550a, Econometrics I  Donald Andrews

Probability: concepts and axiomatic development. Data: tools of descriptive statistics and data reduction. Random variables and probability distributions; univariate distributions (continuous and discrete); multivariate distributions; functions of random variables and transformations; the notion of statistical inference; sampling concepts and distributions; asymptotic theory; point and interval estimation; hypothesis testing.
MW 1pm-2:15pm

ECON 551b, Econometrics II  Xu Cheng

Provides a basic knowledge of econometric theory, and an ability to carry out empirical work in economics. Topics include linear regression and extensions, including regression diagnostics, generalized least squares, statistical inference, dynamic models, instrumental variables and maximum likelihood procedures, simultaneous equations, nonlinear and qualitative-choice models. Examples from cross-section, time series, and panel data applications.
TTh 1:15pm-2:30pm

ECON 552b, Econometrics III  Xiaohong Chen

The treatment of the subject is rigorous, attentive to modern developments, and proceeds to research level in several areas. Linear models from core curriculum. Topics include linear estimation theory, multiple and multivariate regressions, Kruskal’s theorem and its applications, classical statistical testing by likelihood ratio, Lagrange multiplier and Wald procedures, bootstrap methods, specification tests, Stein-like estimation, instrumental variables, and an introduction to inferential methods in simultaneous stochastic equations.
M 6pm-8:30pm

ECON 553a, Econometrics IV: Time Series Econometrics  Myung Seo

A sequel to ECON 552, the course proceeds to research level in time series econometrics. Topics include an introduction to ergodic theory, Wold decomposition, spectral theory, martingales, martingale convergence theory, mixing processes, strong laws, and central limit theory for weak dependent sequences with applications to econometric models and model determination.
F 1pm-4pm

ECON 556a, Topics in Empirical Economics and Public Policy  Yuichi Kitamura, Edward Vytlacil, and Yusuke Narita

Methods and approaches to empirical economic analysis are reviewed, illustrated, and discussed with reference to specific empirical studies. The emphasis is on learning to use methods and on understanding how specific empirical questions determine the empirical approach to be used. We review a broad range of approaches including program evaluation methods and structural modeling, including estimation approaches, computational issues, and problems with inference. Open only to doctoral students in the Department of Economics. Exceptionally, doctoral students from other departments may take the course for credit if a faculty member, normally from their department, can supervise and grade their term paper.
MW 10:30am-11:50am

ECON 558a, Econometrics  Michael Boozer

Application of statistical analysis to economic data. Basic probability theory, linear regression, specification and estimation of economic models, time series analysis, and forecasting. The computer is used. For IDE students.
TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

ECON 559b, Development Econometrics (IDE)  Michael Boozer

TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

ECON 561b, Computational Methods in Economics  Anthony Smith

How to use computational methods to solve and analyze dynamic economic models. The first part of the course covers standard tools of numerical analysis that are useful in economics (minimization of functions, root-finding, interpolation, approximation of functions, integration, simulation). The second shows how to use these tools to study dynamic economic problems in macroeconomics, finance, labor economics, public finance, and industrial organization, paying special attention to methods for solving stochastic dynamic programming problems and for computing equilibria in economic models with heterogeneous actors.
MW 4pm-5:15pm

ECON 567a and ECON 568a, Econometrics Workshop  Donald Andrews

A forum for state-of-the-art research in econometrics. Its primary purpose is to disseminate the results and the technical machinery of ongoing research in theoretical and applied fields.
W 4pm-5:30pm

ECON 570a and ECON 571b, Prospectus Workshop in Econometrics  Edward Vytlacil

A course for third- and fourth-year students doing research in econometrics to prepare their prospectus and present dissertation work.
M 12pm-1pm

ECON 580a, General Economic History: Western Europe  Timothy Guinnane

A survey of some major events and issues in the economic development of Western Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, stressing the causes, nature, and consequences of the industrial revolution in Britain and on the Continent, and the implications of the historical record for modern conceptions of economic growth. Prerequisites: simultaneous enrollment in or successful completion of ECON 500 and ECON 510; permission of the instructor.
TTh 9am-10:20am

ECON 588a, Economic History Workshop  Staff

A forum for discussion and criticism of research in progress. Presenters include graduate students, Yale faculty, and visitors. Topics concerned with long-run trends in economic organization are suitable for the seminar. Special emphasis given to the use of statistics and of economic theory in historical research.
M 2:30pm-3:50pm

ECON 600a, Industrial Organization I  Philip Haile and Mitsuru Igami

Begins by locating the study of industrial organization within the broader research traditions of economics and related social sciences. Alternative theories of decision making, of organizational behavior, and of market evolution are sketched and contrasted with standard neoclassical theories. Detailed examination of the determinants and consequences of industrial market structure.
TTh 10:30am-11:50am

ECON 601b, Industrial Organization II  Steven Berry

Examination of alternative modes of public control of economic sectors with primary emphasis on antitrust and public utility regulation in the U.S. economy. Public policy issues in sectors of major detailed governmental involvement.
TTh 10:30am-11:50am

ECON 606a and ECON 607b, Prospectus Workshop in Industrial Organization  Staff

For third-year students in microeconomics, intended to guide students in the early stages of theoretical and empirical dissertation research. Emphasis on regular writing assignments and oral presentations.
Th 12pm-1pm

ECON 608a, Industrial Organization Seminar  Staff

For advanced graduate students in applied microeconomics, serving as a forum for presentation and discussion of work in progress of students, Yale faculty members, and invited speakers.
T 2:30pm-4pm

ECON 630a and ECON 631b, Labor Economics  Konstantinos Meghir

Topics include static and dynamic approaches to demand, human capital and wage determination, wage income inequality, unemployment and minimum wages, matching and job turnover, immigration and international trade, unions, implicit contract theory, and efficiency wage hypothesis.
TTh 9am-10:20am

ECON 638a, Labor and Population Workshop  Staff

A forum primarily for graduate students to present their research plans and findings. Discussions encompass empirical microeconomic research relating to both high- and low-income countries.
Th 4:10pm-5:40pm

ECON 640a or b, Prospectus Workshop in Labor Economics and Public Finance  Staff

Workshop for students doing research in labor economics and public finance.
HTBA

ECON 670a / MGMT 740a, Financial Economics I  Jonathan Ingersoll and Stefano Giglio

Current issues in theoretical financial economics are addressed through the study of current papers. Focuses on the development of the problem-solving skills essential for research in this area.
TTh 2:40pm-4pm

ECON 672b / MGMT 745b, Behavioral Finance  Nicholas Barberis

Much of modern financial economics works with models in which agents are rational, in that they maximize expected utility and use Bayes's law to update their beliefs. Behavioral finance is a large and active field that studies models in which some agents are less than fully rational. Such models have two building blocks: limits to arbitrage, which make it difficult for rational traders to undo the dislocations caused by less rational traders; and psychology, which catalogues the kinds of deviations from full rationality we might expect to see. We discuss these two topics and then consider a number of applications: asset pricing (the aggregate stock market and the cross-section of average returns); individual trading behavior; and corporate finance (security issuance, corporate investment, and mergers).
Th 4:10pm-7pm

ECON 674b, Financial Crises  Gary Gorton and Andrew Metrick

An elective doctoral course covering theoretical and empirical research on financial crises. The first half of the course focuses on general models of financial crises and historical episodes from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The second half of the course focuses on the recent financial crisis. Prerequisites: MGMT 740 and 741 (doctoral students in Economics may substitute the core microeconomics sequence), and permission of the instructor.
W 1pm-4pm

ECON 675a, Models of Operations Research and Management  Vahideh Manshadi

The course exposes students to main stochastic modeling methods and solution concepts used to study problems in operations research and management. The first half of the class covers analysis of queuing models such as Markovian queues, networks of queues, and queues with general arrival or service distributions, as well as approximation techniques such as heavy traffic approximation. The second half focuses on control of stochastic processes; it covers finite and infinite-horizon dynamic programming problems, and special classes such as linear quadratic problems, optimal stopping, and multi-armed bandit problems.
W 4:10pm-7:10pm

ECON 680a, Public Finance I  Cormac O'Dea

Major topics in public finance including externalities, public goods, benefit/cost analysis, fiscal federalism, social insurance, retirement savings, poverty and inequality, taxation, and others. Applications are provided to crime, education, environment and energy, health and health insurance, housing, and other markets and domains. The course covers a variety of applied methods including sufficient statistics, randomized control trials, hedonic models, regression discontinuity, discrete choice, spatial equilibrium, dynamic growth models, differences-in-differences, integrated assessment models, applied general equilibrium, event studies, firm production functions, learning models, general method of moments, and propensity-score reweighting estimators.
MW 9am-10:20am

ECON 681b, Public Finance II  Nicholas Werquin

This course covers social insurance, health care, charitable giving, externalities, crime, and an introduction to political economy. Students are expected to participate actively in class discussion and to write and present a short empirical research paper.
T 4pm-6:15pm

ECON 706a and ECON 707b, Prospectus Workshop in International Economics  Staff

This workshop is for third-year and other advanced students in international economic fields. It is intended to guide students in the early stages of dissertation research. The emphasis is on students’ presentation and discussion of material that will eventually lead to the prospectus.
T 12pm-1pm

ECON 720a, International Trade I  Konstantinos Arkolakis and Giovanni Maggi

. The first part of this course covers the basic theory of international trade, from neoclassical theory where trade is the result of comparative advantage (Ricardo, Heckscher-Ohlin) to the “New Trade Theory” where trade is generated by imperfect competition and increasing returns to scale